Sounding apparatus



. G. FISCHER."

SOUNDING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILM) 1AN.11,1919.

Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

ERNST G. FISCHER., or WASHINGTON, DISTRICT or COLUMBIA.

SO'UN DING APPARATU S.

Specification of Letterslatent;

PatentedAug. 17, 1920.

Application 1ed`January 11, 1919. Serial No. 270,714.

y T all whom it may concern:

Be ii; known that I, EnNs'r G. FISCHER, a citizen of the United States3 at present i'esiding at l/Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sounding Apparatiis, of which the following is a specification,

My present invention is in the nature of an improvement on the apparatusdisclosed. in my U. Patent No. 1,244,485, issued October 30, 1917, and it especially has :for its obj ect to provide a more convenient, effective and accurate way of determining the depthV of the soundings. i

It has been found, in practice, that, when the rod by which the `water is displaced from the sounding tube is, itself, graduated with a scale from which the depth reading is taken, there is room for error due to the closeness of the indicating marks and the capillary action of the water obscuring the marks, and that the reading of a close scale and its numbers on a cylindrical surface oi" bright metal is too difficult, especially so at night and in stormy weather.

It is, therefore, another object of the present invention to provide means whereby the displacement rod can be inserted into the sounding tube and as soon the displaced water reaches the mouth of the tube, an indi eator on the rod will have been set so that the rod can immediately be removed sind the tube at once used again, if desired.

The depth of `the sounding can be taken by placing the rod on a cooperating scale bar, which is a separate article from the i rod, `but :is graduated with definite regard to the rod volume and with definite regard to the sounding tube and its valve device.

.ln its more detailed nature,\the invention also includes those .novel features oit con-y` struction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will be first-fully de-` scribed and then be s} 3ecitically pointed out in the appendedclaims7 reterence being had to the accompanying drawings, 1n which:

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section y or outlet of the tube and give the proper position to the slide indicator on the rod.

Fig. 3 is a detail longitudinal section of the lower end of the sounding tube with the removable cap in place. i

Fig. 4 isa side elevation showing the device in use. i

Figs. 5 1and G are elevations of two scale bars, one toi' a linch rod and the other for a inch rod.

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view ot one end oit a scale bar and its coperating displacement rod.

In the drawings, in which like numerals a cap t, the construction ot which and oli the valve cooperating with it, is best indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, by refereiice to which it will be :noticed that the cap l is provided with a recess 5 and also has a fiange (3' to receive the lower end oi the tube l, a packing or washer 3 being located in the recess 5 and forming a seat for the lower end off the tube l. The seat end of the tube l `is adapted to be held withA sealing pressure against the washer 3 by the clamp screw 30 which is carried in the boss QQ et the yoke 2S that is mounted on trunnions 27 of the fixed sleeve 26.

The cap 4l is counterbored at 7 and has an inclined or coniiorm valve seat 9 around the bore .8 through which the water is designed to enter the tube.

The bore 8 communicates with a cross bore l() in the cap.

In practice, the cubieal content oi the counterbore 7 is designed to equal the cubi cal content oit the material iormng the valve alge, the valve and valve spring, so that the displacement of water due to the volume oif'tliese parts in the tube 1 will be compensated for by the additional space in the counterbore 7. Thus when water has en tered the tribe l, in use, thereading oi the water level will. not he effected by reason of the displacement due to the valve cage and its parts.

11 designates the valve cage which con- 2' VV. l jIK. I v-"f sists or". a'metallic cylinder slotted atl and 111 to Jermit tree Jassaee ot water and 3rol e vided with a yvalve stem bearing 13, the cyl- Yinder 11 being slotted at its lower end, as at 111-, so that it may be seated in the counterbore 7 with retaining friction.

15 is the valve stem which is provided with winged guides 16 and a receptacle 1T tor the valve disk 18. The disk 1S is preferably formed of a rubber composition.

The valve spring 19 continuously tends to seat the-valve. 1

ln order to standardize the instrument and provide a definite way et. compensating` theY reading; on the scale `bar tor the act-ion ot v the spring, prefer to make the spring` ot a d'etinitestrength kso that its torce added to the weight of the valve, will have a delinite value atall times. l have selected tor this value, the pressure exerted by the water V through the aperture 8, when the instrinnent is immersed to the depth ot one fathom, 1'. c.

the tension ot the springis such that the =1s at atmospheric pressure and the valve is seated under the influence ot its weight and the force ot the spring' 19. Y

As theinstrument is lowered and a depth ot one 'fathom is reached, the pressure ot the l, water causes water to enter through the bores 10 and 8 into tube 1, opening the valve against the resistance of the valve spring and theresistance ot the air spring in the tube. Y

s The amount oit water which will be Yforced Y into' the tube and the amount to which the air in the tube will be compressed, will depend upon the depth to which the instrument is lowered. sthe instrument is beinp` lowered, the pressure within the same and *that on the outside ot the instrument tend to become balanf-ed and were it not tor the provision ot the springl 19, the valve would not immediately seat, so that it the instrumentfvvere drawn up slowly enough, the

valve would Aremain unseated and Ythe water trom the inside ot the tube would flow out again.

Ot course, if a quick pull on the instrument to raise it is had, the valve would seat by'reason ot the dil'l'erence of pressure formed by such quick action, but as before stated, if the withdrawal be very slow, there is danger of leakage and hence I have provided the spring` 19 ol` a definite pressure action or torce to hold the valve on its .scat with sutlicient pressure to nlaintain the sealing` contart even though the instrument; be drawn up slowly. Y

l'n practice, the instrument clamps fill by snap hooks il ol' 'the ordinary type that are on the stray line 22, the stray line being,- provided with a still'eninr stick Q-l which is secured to it at intervals L to protect the instrument by preventingilu` bottom of the sounder trom striking. 'lhe stray line also carries the lead Q5, as is the usual practice.

lin order to eitect a reading ot the instrument, after it has been withdrawn.y the instrument is turned upside down and the cap t removed. ritter the cap has been removed, a rod 3l is introduced (see Fig. 2) until Ithe water level reaches the mouth ol' the tube 1. The rod is of uniform cross section throughout and ot a definite volume. lt. has a sliding sleeve 32 held with friction. thc sleeve havingr a straight edge ll to elm-agr the mouth et the tube 1 and thus tix the place on the rod that determines the depth ol' inimersion, so that, when the rod is placed on its coperative scale bar, a direct indication ot the depth ot the innnersion can be taken ltrom the stale.

,witter the rod ill has been inserted to the proper depth in the tube, it is removed and the water is emptied out ot the tube and the cap replaced.

The instrument is then r ady tor use a second time.

ln practice, when the tube 1 is of onehalt inch inside diameter, (the diameter l prefer to use) .l prefer also to providt` the navigator with a series ot rods and scale bars, say three sets, z'. c. a 1linch rod and a corresponding scale bar, a ,5g inch rod and a corresponding scale bar, and a inch rod and a corresponding scale bar, cach scale bar being' graduated to read tathoms determined by the particular rod with which it cooperates, thus making` it quite convenient for the navigator to read practically any depth to which the instrument has been lowered, it beingunderstood, ot course.` that. at the shallower depths, less water enters the tube 1 than at the greater depths and hence tor meastring- .shallow depths. the largest rod would be cn'iploycd. since the water in the tube l has to be displaced through a greater distance before it reaches the level of the mouth of the tube.

After the rod 31 has been inserted in the sounder tube 1 and the water displaced thereby, reaches the end ot the tube, the navigator removes the rot, and places it, as indicated in dotted lines on Fig. (l. on the corresponding* scale bar 311-. y

is held with The bar ftvhas a scaled surface graduated in units to read fathoms from the minimum extremity of the bar.

at 36 toivard the maximum at the opposite The barhas an end plate 37 Which has an abutment or recesslike portion 38 to receive the end of the rod 3l, While the indicator 33 is designed to lie over the bar 3d and scaled surface 35 and form a pointer by which the scale reading may be observed at a glance.

ln graduating the scales'l, allowance is made for the pressure of the valve spring and the Weight of the valve. For instance, the fathom mark on the scale (Fig. 6) is really the indication of the Water Which Would enter the tube 1 under `iive fathom pressure were the pressure of the valve and the valve spring Zero, hence there is a definite relation between the sounder, the displacement rod and the scale bar.

It should be understood, if the sounder is lost, as sometimes occurs When the lead fouls and the line or sounding Wire breaks, the navigator does not` lose his indicator rods or scale bars, as one set of indicating rods and scale bars can `be used in connection with a plurality of sounding instruments, thus making the expense for the loss of the instrument much less than is the case With those instruments on the market in Which the indicators are an attached instrument.

With my construction, it Will be seen that .l provide a positive means for trapping the water and itully preventing any leakage of the same, thus rendering the instrument of special value in survey Work, Where great accuracy is required.

l also provide a scale, the parts or' which, being multiplied by the ratio of the cross sectional area of the measuring rod and that of the sounding tube, are much larger and therefore more easily read under adverse conditions than the scales of other similar apparatus.

l. have provided a suitable correction table :tor the use of thenavigator Where extreme accuracy is desired, as in survey Work, the

table giving the proper corrections for variation in the temperature oit the air and Water and variations in the barometric pressure.

The sounder proper described and shown in Figs. l, 3 and 4, is, in its essentials, the

saine as that disclosed in my prior patent part of the definite volume adapted to receive Water,

when the sounder is immersed, and having provision for retaining the Water under the pressure of immersion until the sounding tube has been drawn up; a rod of definite volume adapted to be inserted into the sounding tube, when opened, to displace the Water to a given extent, and an indicator slidable on the rod and adapted to be set by contact With the end of the sounderl tube as the rod is inserted in said tube, and a separate scale bar adapted to receive said rod and coperate with said indicator to give the necessary reading of the depth of immersion.

2. In a sounder of the class described wherein is provided, a sounding tube of definite volume adapted to receive Water, When the sounder is immersed and having provision for retaining the Water under the pressure of immersion until the sounding tube has been drawn up; a rod of definite volume adapted to be inserted into the sounding tube, when opened, to displace the water toa given extent, and an indicator slidable on the rod and adapted `to be set by contact With the end of the tube as the rod is inserted in said tube, and a sep arate scale bar adapted to receive said rod and coperate With said indicator to give the necessary reading of the depth of immersion, said scale bar having one end provided-with a rod stop and having a scale surface over which the said indicator may lie to coperate With the scale marks.

In an apparatus of the class described, a lscale bar having a straight edge and an end stop, a displacement rodadapted to'lie with one end against said stop and along said straight edge, and a slidable indicator on the rod having a straight edge to lie over the scale bar and coperate With the graduation marks of the same.

4. In a sounder of the class described, wherein is provided a sounding tube of definite volume adapted to receive Water,

when the sounder is immersed and having provision 'for retaining the Water under the pressure of immersion until the sounding tube has been drawn up; a rod of definite volume adapted to be inserted into the tube, When opened, to displace the water to a given extent, and an indicator slidable on the rod 'and adapted to be set by contact `with the end of the tube as the rod is inserted in said tube, and a scale bar adapted to receive said rod and coperate with said indicator to give the necessary reading of the depth of immersion, said scale bar hav ing one end provided with a rod stop and having a `scale surface over which the said indicator may lie to coperate with the scale marks, `said scale surface being graduated in single fathom units.

ERNST G. FISCHER. 

